


Ephemeral

by Angelic_Ascent



Category: Tales of Symphonia
Genre: Comfort/Angst, M/M, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-01
Updated: 2014-03-01
Packaged: 2018-01-14 04:16:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1252426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelic_Ascent/pseuds/Angelic_Ascent
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things were bad enough, but it seemed like the only thing he could do was make it worse for himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ephemeral

“...To tell the truth, Noishe,” Mithos said, bringing his hand up to Noishe’s neck and beginning to stroke it, “I’m tired. I’m tired of living.” 

Noishe whined, looking at Mithos.

“That's not something people should say? But you know...I think what I'm doing may be wrong. And now that I've started to think that, I can't help but feel there's no meaning to life.”

Noishe whined louder, a baying sound coming from him as he nudged Mithos’s arm.

“Yes. Genis and Raine and Lloyd… They’re all good people. I like them. I’m happy they made me their friend. But…”

Noishe whined.

“...I’m sorry,” Mithos said softly, stroking the soft fur behind Noishe’s ears. “Forget what I said just now. It wasn’t like me.”

“It’s strange to see Noishe like someone so much he doesn’t know very well.”

“Genis.” Mithos turned his head, meeting Genis’s gaze as he walked over. “Are we ready to go find Raine?”

“Almost,” he replied, standing beside Mithos. “I think they’ll set up the Rheiards in a few minutes.”

“Alright.” 

Genis went quiet, and his eyes fell to the ground.

“Are you worried about Raine?”

He bit his lip. “Of course. It’s not like her at all to just go off by herself. And there are a lot of people chasing us. And…” Genis shook his head.

“I’m sure Raine is alright,” Mithos said, eyes overlaid with a shadow of gentleness, a ghost of what they once may have been. “She’s strong. And we’ll be with her soon.”

“I know… she can take care of herself…”

Noishe whined, gently pushing his head into Genis’s shoulder before licking his face. Genis smiled a bit, petting his neck, and Mithos brought his hand up to his face with a soft, small laugh. “See? Even Noishe knows it’ll be alright.”

Noishe looked up, gave a quiet bay, and licked the side of Mithos’s face. Genis laughed, the first time Mithos had seen him really smile all day, and for the first time in so long his chest felt light, warm.

“Really though. It’s strange for Noishe to like someone so much that he just met,” Genis said, hand stroking Noishe’s back. “The only other person he acted this way with was Kratos.”

“Kratos?” 

“Oh -- he was… someone who traveled with us for a bit. But it turned out he was… not our friend after all,” Genis explained, gaze returning to the ground.

“Oh… I see,” Mithos said softly, eyes flickering down and then back to Genis. “A betrayal like that… must be very painful.”

“Yeah… especially for Lloyd. Kratos was kind of like a mentor to him while we were together.”

“A mentor…” He paused, the slow strokes he had been giving to the backside of Noishe’s ears coming to a momentary stop. “Lloyd must be so upset.”

“Well… yeah,” Genis said, looking up at the sky for a few seconds. “I think anyone would be. But he’s still trying to understand Kratos, even now. And… I think deep down, he still trusts him.”

Mithos looked over at him. “Even after that?” 

“That’s just the kind of person Lloyd is,” Genis said with a hint of false petulance, easily given away by the small smile he wore. 

Mithos’s hand paused in its strokes again as his eyes cast downward once more. There was a silence that stretched for several seconds until he finally said, “We should probably get going.”

“Yeah… um, Mithos?”

He met his gaze. “Yes, Genis?”

Genis’s hand came up Noishe’s back to pet him again, but instead of landing on the top of his neck, it came to rest gently on the top of Mithos’s hand. “Thanks for talking to me. I feel better. You’re a good friend.”

“You’re welcome, Genis. That’s what friends are for, right?”

**Author's Note:**

> replaying symphonia hd and the mithos/genis game is strong there's really no point to this haha um
> 
> the beginning is the end of the skit "old friend of noishe"


End file.
